Gone with a Smile
by GothicGohan-again
Summary: In his fight with Saskue, Naruto realizes he is about to die. Using a shadow clone, he tells his last words to Sakura. ONESHOT.NARUSAKU


**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Gone with a Smile**

**Naruto growled in frustration as his legs burned painfully, running to make a small distance between him and Sasuke. It was NOT supposed to happen like this. Why was his best friend looking at him with the intent to kill? Was he truly trying to leave Konoha of his own free will, even if it meant that he'd kill Naruto in order to do that? The answer was obvious as Naruto looked through his ungouged eye, staring at the other teen who was in his transformed curse level 2 form, spreading his wings from atop the waterfall.**

**Naruto couldn't beat him, it was as simple as that. Even with the Kyuubi letting him use all of his chakra, the boy was still drained. Truth be told, he would be lucky if he could manage a simple step farther on the water with his chakra. Unfortunately, Naruto could see that, atop the waterfall, Sasuke was preparing a chidori easily. It would only be moments until that attack would be rushing through his skull. He had to do something quickly.**

**Meanwhile….**

**Sakura looked at the young boy in front of her with a sickening feeling coursing through her stomach as each awkward second passed as they stared at each other. She had to admit that Naruto was a genius when he was thinking about her.**

**Across from the pink haired girl was one of her teammate's shadow clones. Naruto made him before he left to retrieve Sasuke. He poured more chakra into the clone in order for the clone to last much longer than normal. The idea of this was that the clone would be able to tell her everything that was happening with the real Naruto, due to the fact that the shadow clone shared his mind with the real boy. It made Sakura feel a little safer when he did this, since it would let her know that her best friend was okay.**

**However, now it was having the opposite effect. From time to time, the sick feeling would throb violently as Sakura would notice the clone flinch or jerk, then look away as if it was hiding some horrible secret from her. Something was not right, she decided as she saw the shadow clone of Naruto suddenly pale. It was then that the clone looked her right in the eyes, frightening her.**

"**Is he important to you," the clone suddenly asked, "Naruto, I mean."**

**Sakura nodded without hesitation, "Very. He knows more about me than any of my other friends. I'd like to think I know him just as good."**

**It was true, at first she hated Naruto, thinking of him as nothing but a troublemaker. That changed, though. After the fight with Zabuza, Sakura started talking with him more, going with him at lunch to go eat ramen, and just talked with him. Eventually, once they had told each other almost everything, Naruto trusted her enough to tell her about Kyuubi and the way he had been treated by the village because of it. It freaked her out at first, enough to make her run from the ramen stand. Five minutes later, though, she had come back and silently hugged him as they both had tears running down their faces. Since them, they were best friends. Sakura would often visit him at his house instead of fawning over Sasuke. He would listen to her, and that's what she needed.**

**The shadow clone interrupted her thoughts once again, "Naruto asks that you don't hate him."**

**Sakura frowned, "Why would I hate him?"**

**The clone hesitated, "He can't keep his promise. Him and Sasuke have been fighting for a while now. Sasuke is going for the kill and Naruto is…losing. Sakura, he's going to die, even if they both stopped fighting right now. His injuries are too great, and even Kyuubi is out of chakra. Sasuke is preparing the chidori as we speak."**

**Sakura gasped. That's all she could do. The sick feeling in her stomach exploded and ran all through her body. How? How could Naruto lose? It just wasn't possible. He was the strongest, right? Naruto can't die.**

"**THAT'S A LIE!" Sakura yelled at the clone, "Naruto is invincible!"**

**The clone shook his head, but wasn't able to speak before Tsunade, Kakashi, and Iruka ran into the room, wondering why Sakura was shouting. Before they could ask, the clone repeated what he had just told Sakura.**

**All three adults gasped at what they just heard. Tsunade fell to her knees, sobbing, and Iruka crouched down and held her as tears of his own came down his face.**

**Kakashi, on the other hand, stood still, "Obito, I've failed again."**

**Sakura growled, "LIAR! Naruto can't be killed! Kyuubi would not let him die! Use henge and show me what Naruto looks like!"**

**The clone hesitated, before nodding. Making the seal, there was a poof of smoke, and when it cleared, Sakura became dizzy. 'Naruto' was so disfigured, that the only way to tell that it was him was by the darkened whisker marks on his face and blonde hair, which was soaked in blood. His face had cuts all over it, and his left eye was torn out, leaving the socket empty. His shirt was completely torn off, showing his chest. There was a hole that was almost healed, which was obviously made by a chidori. Other than that, the rest of his body only had minor cuts, but it was obvious that he was about to die.**

**The clone got rid of the henge, leaving him as he usually looked. Noting that no one was able to speak, he decided it was time to tell them, "Sakura, Naruto says that Sasuke is nothing more than a memory, and has been replaced by a monster. He apologizes, for he decided that he was going to take Sasuke with him when he dies. Though may not have much chakra left, he has just enough to use a kinjutsu that he invented. He will die."**

**Sakura could only nod slightly before the shadow clone spoke again, "He says that he wishes that he could have spent more time with you, and he wants you to remember him as I look and not how he is currently."**

**The clone pulled out a package from his jacket and handed it to her. Sakura numbly took it and opened it. What she pulled out was an old leaf headband that he had gotten from Iruka when he first graduated. As she looked at it with tears running down her face, Iruka gasped as he recognized it. Sakura knew all about it, as Naruto had shown it to her one day at his house, and knew how special it was to him.**

**Next, she pulled out a necklace that he had gotten from Tsunade, and the hokage jumped up, "Naruto knows that the necklace is cursed! Why is he giving it to her?"**

**The clone paused, before putting up the foxy grin that Naruto was known for, "He told me to tell you that you worry too much, old hag."**

**Tsunade smiled sadly, knowing that it was the last time she'd ever hear that from him again, "Brat."**

**The clone went over to her and gave her a hug, "He says that he'll miss his…"**

**The hokage smirked, "I know, old hag."**

**The clone shook his head, "No. His… mom. That's how he thinks of you."**

**Tsunade froze, "He thinks of me as his mother?"**

**The clone nodded, before hugging Iruka, "And you, he thinks of you as his father."**

**Iruka nodded slightly, "And I think of him as my son."**

**The shadow clone nodded, then turned and hugged Kakashi, "He says you'd be his brother if he had it his way. Also, he says not to teach the chidori to anyone else. They hurt like a bitch."**

**Kakashi smiled softly, caught off guard by the language, "Okay, little brother. Go knowing you have a family in us. And that we'll never forget you."**

'**Naruto' nodded before turning back to Sakura, who looked like she was proud of her blonde teammate. He walked over to her and pulled her into a tight hug, and whispered into her ear, "He says that it was not just a crush. He truly loved you, and he's very grateful that he got to know you better."**

**Sakura pulled away from the clone, before crushing her lips onto his. Though he was just a clone, she knew Naruto would take it as her kissing him. When she pulled away, she smile at him, "Tell him that what he just got was my first kiss, and I fell in love with him after Zabuza died. And I'll never stop loving him."**

**The clone nodded, and pulled her into another embrace, "Good-bye, my love."**

**When he pulled away, he looked around the room, before he gasped and started to fall. A single tear flew from his eye and landed lightly on Sakura's cheek. Right before he puffed into smoke and disappeared, he smiled, "Naruto died happily with a family that he couldn't love more."**

**Minutes passed as the four people in the room cried over their family member's passing. After what seemed like an eternity, Sakura took off her headband and tossed it aside, before putting on the one she got from Naruto. The headband covered her forehead, instead of in her hair, knowing that putting it on anywhere else would be an insult to her love.**

**As she began to put on the necklace, Tsunade stopped her, "Let me."**

**When Tsunade finished putting the necklace on Sakura, the pink haired girl turned to face her, "Hokage-sama, I request that my name be changed to Uzumaki Sakura."**

**The hokage smile, and nodded, "Consider it already done. You can go by his apartment and take a few things as well."**

**Sakura smiled, "I'd like that."**

**Tsunade smiled as well, before looking at everyone at once, "Today, the greatest man that had ever lived in this village died trying to take yet another step to becoming hokage and gain a small amount of respect from the people who knew him. Instead, he became so much more than a hokage could hope to be, with respect that surpasses even myself. Today, a man by the name of Naruto became what all future hokage would strive for. Today, let it be known though the ages that Tsunade, the fifth Hokage, would shamelessly, and without hesitation, bow to the feet of the great Naruto-sama if given the chance."**

**Sakura smiled, a proud tear falling down her face, "Tsunade-sama, if Naruto could hear what you just said, his ego would have flown through the roof."**

**All four laughed, but for Uzumaki Sakura, it felt like there were five there instead, because Naruto would never leave her heart until the day she died.**

**End**


End file.
